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Mantic SciFi News and Rumour Roundup

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Llew
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« Reply #30 on: June 28, 2011, 03:02:30 am »

Now, see, if I were Mantic, you know what I'd do about BFG'S?  Separate mini-tray or square base.  And when you bought one, you wouldn't replace a model, you'd just add that base to your unit.  It'd serve two purposes: first, it's easy to pick it out and establish it's firing arc.  (BFG's do have a firing arc in Warpath.)  Second, it's a few more minis per unit.  Wink  Granted, you could let people swap if they like, but it'd be cool if you had these BFG teams scattered through your formation.

Oh, well.  We'll see what they do.


For amusement's sake, I've placed below one of my initial posts about things I'd change:

Okay…there are a few things that have been mentioned as feeling not quite right. What I’m putting forth here is a synthesis of my ideas, other people’s ideas and so on and so forth seeing if there is something that can make Warpath feel a bit different — not just KoW with lasers. I have four over-riding goals.

1) Make it “feel” more Sci-Fi.
2) Make a difference in Shooting and Melee.
3) Make leaders matter, while avoiding the feel that it’s just ranked-up units.
4) Keep it fast to move around.

I’ll probably have to post this in chunks, so I’ll address unit bases, LOS, unit formations and movement in this post.

UNIT BASES

First, I’d recommend organizing all units in bases. There would be several different types and sizes.

All units would be built from Teams. A Team is the smallest unit. A Section equals 2 Teams. A Platoon equals 2 Sections or 4 Teams. We’re assuming 5 models per team, but this is an aesthetic choice, and some teams might be smaller. (This could be good for Command Units.)

The first team of any unit (Team, Section, Platoon) would be the Command Team and would be mounted on a Command Base. Assuming 25mm round bases, the basic size would be 60mm wide by 80mm long. Two of the corners on the same end of the base, but on opposite long edges would be clipped (imagine a 45° cut based on a 20mm square) to establish the “front” of the unit. The Leader model would be front and center on this. This would make a blunt “point” of sorts. It would help distinguish the Command Team on the field.

Additional teams would be either Shooting or Assault teams, and this would be based on the unit type. So we’d have to class units by those terms. A Shooting Team would be on a 140mm wide by 30mm high base. An Assault Team would be on a 90mm by 50 mm base, with two corners (two ends of the same long edge) clipped to establish the back of the base. (Or it could be the front, depending on what feels better.)

BFG’s would be handled on 50mm by 50mm squares, or 40mm by 40mm. It could even go smaller — whatever is comfortable. But it should be a standard size. When a BFG is purchased, don’t replace a trooper on a Team, but add a BFG base to the Unit.

LOS

No Team may draw LOS through other units, friendly or enemy.

A Command Team has a 360° LOS, and can draw through other teams in its unit.

A Shooting Team has a 90° front LOS, and can draw through other teams in its unit. If a Shooting Team’s front edge touches the back edge of another Shooting Team in it’s unit, it’s LOS is drawn based on the unit in front of it.

An Assault Team has a 90° front LOS, but drawn from the back corners. (Remember those clips? Those establish the angle.) It cannot draw LOS through other teams in its unit.

A BFG has a 90° LOS to the front, and cannot draw LOS through other teams in it’s unit.

UNIT FORMATION

A Unit may be set up in any formation so long as all Teams in the unit have bases touching. The Command Team can be at one end of the line, in the middle, at the back of a formation pushing across the field. Wherever. The only limitation is that all Teams in a Unit be touching.

MOVEMENT

Move the Command Team and pick it’s facing. Move all the remaining teams and set them down according to the Unit Formation rules above. You may pick whatever facing you like. You may have a Team that was behind the Command Team move all the way out front. You can do crazy things to gain a momentary advantage. This is intentional. (You will often pay for it next turn.)

A Team can be placed in any valid position as long as it would not have to have come within 1″ of any enemy unit to get to it’s final position. For this reason, it may be best to slide the units into position if you’re attempting to snake through an enemy line. If this can’t be done, the team immediately stops and the Command Team is moved back into contact with the blocked team.

CHARGES

All Charges are measured from the Leader model, and can be made at any unit that is within the Command Team’s LOS and within range of the Leader. (Currently 12″. Two times Speed if that comes back into the game.)

The Command Team moves into contact with the Enemy Command Team, then other units are moved into contact accordingly. (This will need more expansion later.)

Any Assault Team can charge the unit chosen by the Command Team, as long as the target was in range of the Command Team.

SHOOTING

All Shooting is measured from the closest point on the Shooting Team to the closest point on the target. If a Shooting Team cannot draw LOS to the target designated by the Command Team, it cannot fire that turn and the unit’s Fire will be reduced accordingly.

BFG’s can pick targets separate from their Unit.

WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

If we go with a system like this it does several things.

First, it makes a game of Warpath instantly visually distinct from other Sci-Fi games.

Second, it keeps movement of units very quick.

Third, it requires the commander to make tactical decisions about firing arcs.

Fourth, the bases tell you very quickly what sort of opponent you’re facing, and how he is set up in his attack or defense. You know where his leaders are, and where his shooty units are and where his assault units are.

Fifth, be letting the commander “game” his formation, he can gain a 1 round advantage, allowing for some gambits. Other changes to be discussed later will make him pay for doing odd things if the gambit doesn’t pay off.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2011, 03:09:03 am by Llew » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #31 on: June 28, 2011, 08:05:10 am »

They could always make a custom tray, that clipped together, with each half holding a 5 model squad.

If it had recesses for bases, you could keep the models separate, or glue them in place and texture the full thing.

That way, those people who were only after cheap 40k minis would be happy, those people who want to play Warpath would be happy, and those people who want the best of both worlds would be happy.
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« Reply #32 on: July 03, 2011, 04:18:57 pm »

Llew, I was going to try to find and reply to this on Warseer but realised it is probably a fair way back there so I'll talk about it here.

I now agree with you, Mantic have gone the way of fantasy in space from the look of their models and the beta rules so far. A real sci-fi game would be very cool, where the brutal close combat assaults like with orcs are basically useless due to the power of the guns and cover is literally essential. Even with current day technology, there is almost no close combat whatsoever in war because it is so ineffective. In reality, if a line of combat orcs went charging at even a basic unit armed with guns, they would get ripped to shreds before they got anywhere near, especially since most don't wear much or any armour.

It would be very cool to see a game that reflected this well and gave little emphasis on close combat, the guns were very powerful and standing in the open was basically a death sentence. A terrain covered 'ruined city' or something could make a very tactical and fun game, the thought appeals to me a lot.
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« Reply #33 on: July 03, 2011, 07:39:13 pm »

But then it just becomes an exercise in dice rolling to work out who brought the biggest guns...
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« Reply #34 on: July 03, 2011, 08:30:04 pm »

strewart, you'd be suprised. there was a news item not too many years ago of the Black Watch being ambushed whilst guarding a convoy, and responding with a bayonet charge...

close combat is the exception rather than the rule, but if you're going to be involved in city fighting, or dense terrain, you'd best be prepared for close combat. Can't see that changing even hundreds of years from now.
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« Reply #35 on: July 04, 2011, 03:58:17 am »

Yeah close combat I guess needs to be more of a sneaky ambush than a classic charge across an open field, sure it will still happen if you can manage to sneak close enough but overall its not going to be as effective.


But then it just becomes an exercise in dice rolling to work out who brought the biggest guns...

Not so, this is where the tactics of hiding in cover come in. Lots of cover and fire lines makes the tactics of trying to flank people to shoot them from an angle that they are exposed. I guess this really works best with quite small scale stuff, a few units on either side would work better than a couple hundred models.
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Darsc Zacal
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« Reply #36 on: August 11, 2011, 10:58:35 am »

First pic of a ForgeFather mini is up at BoW site.


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« Reply #37 on: August 11, 2011, 12:05:50 pm »

Hell yeah, that rocks Smiley
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Darsc Zacal
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« Reply #38 on: August 13, 2011, 04:42:16 am »

I've updated the News and Rumour Roundup in the first post.

Sorry for the lengthy delay guys.
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Darsc Zacal
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« Reply #39 on: August 21, 2011, 07:24:23 am »

According to the Total Wargamer blog, Ronnie was showing off a Warpath Marauder sprue while demoing some Dwarf Kings Hold 3up games at their store today. No closeup pics of the sprue unfortunately, but as scarletsquig pointed out over at Warseer, there are a couple of still pictures of the people playing while the sprue is on the table, and another of a guy holding it. The reality though is no details can be made out.

http://www.totalwargamer.co.uk/blog/?p=1474

Apparantly the sprue includes some kind of heavy weapon, a power claw, and some other options.

All it really does is remind us the release of official pics is getting closer. Speaking of... Quoted below is Ronnie from Fridays Mantic newsletter.



"However, next week we will have loads and loads of Warpath for you - including photos of a full unit of ForgeFathers, and sketches of two very interesting kits that will both be in the boxed game!

And the box cover!
*
Oh, and in the next few days you can see the work in progress on the two Army leader figures. Believe me when I say these two sculpts are truly incredible.
*
One image will appear on Beasts of War, the other on Bell of Lost Souls so keep your eyes peeled fro those - and of course both will hit the wonderous Mantic blog!"
« Last Edit: August 21, 2011, 07:27:55 am by Darsc Zacal » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #40 on: August 21, 2011, 10:50:38 am »

Great news!!
I hope to see the pics soon.
Let me know if you need to buy more shelves to put more models ... my wife will almost certainly kill me.
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Darsc Zacal
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« Reply #41 on: September 10, 2011, 08:08:05 am »

I think most people have probably seen these by now, but just in case, here's the concept art for the Marauder and ForgeFather vehicles that will be included in the Warpath Starter Set and the initial Army Deals.




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« Reply #42 on: September 10, 2011, 08:22:33 am »

Brofist for the artillery.
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Darsc Zacal
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« Reply #43 on: September 11, 2011, 09:27:16 am »

Bell of Lost Souls has an exclusive photo up of some more painted ForgeFathers.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K6bvLlTbN8I/Tmo6Ceu7VnI/AAAAAAAAKYA/1PIQFFrnBqs/s1600/forgefather-unit-painted-warpath.jpg

I'd prefer to see some unpainted mini's though. I just can't get past the resemblence to bird beaks that this paintjob gives off.

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« Reply #44 on: September 11, 2011, 10:13:58 am »

I agree (had the same thought myself). While the standard of painting is miles better than previously, the way the armour plates on the faces has been done is not ideal.
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